Press Release No. <a name="P16_75"></a>05/73

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hosted a luncheon on March 29, 2005 to bid farewell to James D. Wolfensohn, who steps down on May 31, 2005 after serving two terms as President of the World Bank.

IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, in his capacity as Chairman of the Executive Board, praised Mr. Wolfensohn's many achievements during his presidency, in particular his dedication to poverty reduction, and thanked him for promoting strong relations between the IMF and World Bank.

Under Mr. Wolfensohn's leadership, "the Bank has made significant contribution to reducing global poverty by addressing the problem from all angles, in a comprehensive and coordinated fashion," Mr. de Rato said. "In particular, in the last 10 years, the Bank has been the largest external financier of primary education, basic health care, HIV/AIDs programs, the environment and biodiversity. These programs go to the heart of improving human dignity and maintaining sustainable development."

In this context, Mr. de Rato praised Mr. Wolfensohn's "success in making the eradication of corruption a key part of the fight against poverty. As you have said, corruption diverts resources from efficient uses, as well as from the poor. It poses the single largest obstacle to growth and development in many countries."

Turning to relations between the Bretton Woods Institutions, Mr. de Rato said that under Mr. Wolfensohn, Bank/Fund collaboration had been intensified, in particular through the joint programs of the Bank and the Fund, most notably the Poverty Reduction Strategy process and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

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